Description
A contemplative diagram mapping the many layers of consciousness that make up a living world. In my cosmology series, this represents “who”.
This diagram offers a visual and relational map of animism as an ecology — not as a belief system, but as a way of understanding reality as composed of many nested, interrelated intelligences, from the most local and tangible to the cosmic and ineffable.
This diagram will live and evolve and be different for everyone. What it attempts to map is not static in practice, because consciousness itself is not fixed. This diagram reflects my interpretation and lived practice – how I experience the land, the spirits, and the nested intelligences. Others may see or feel things differently, and that is part of the richness of this work. This is not offered as a “correct” or “right” map, but rather as a generative tool for reflection, ethical attention, and relational awareness – a way to notice how you move in relationship with land, life, and the many layers of consciousness around us.
At its centre is Aether / Spirit / the Great Mystery, the unnameable source from which all consciousness arises and to which all returns. From this centre, the diagram spirals outward in a toroidal flow, showing how land, life, energy, myth, ancestry, planetary and cosmic forces are woven together in relationship rather than hierarchy or domination.
The Cosmology of Animism diagram is designed to support those who are working with land, ceremony, ecological ethics, spiritual inquiry, or systems thinking – and who want to do so with care, consent, reverence, and humility.
What the diagram shows
The diagram maps multiple layers of nested consciousness, including:
- The physical body of the land — stone, soil, water, roots, microbes, minerals
- Living kin — plants, animals, fungi, humans, and their collective intelligences
- Energetic and geomantic structures — ley lines, portals, nodes, currents, guardians
- Nature spirits and elementals — the etheric ecology of place
- Ancestral and mythic layers — human, cultural, and land lineages
- Planetary consciousness — Gaia, ecosystem oversouls, elemental and dragon fields
- Cosmic and stellar intelligences — solar, lunar, planetary, galactic awareness
- Vertical dimensions — underworld and core-earth forces, and supra-cosmic mystery
These layers are held within a directional and elemental framework, aligned with the compass, seasons, times of day, and archetypal guardians, offering orientation rather than instruction.
How it can be used
This diagram can be used as:
- A contemplative map for sensing relationship with land and place
- A ceremonial or ritual aid, supporting ethical sequencing and consent
- A teaching or facilitation tool for animist or ecological worldviews
- A personal reflection map for understanding where attention is being placed
- A way to notice which layers are being engaged — and which are being bypassed
It does not tell you what to do.
It helps you notice who and what you are in relationship with.
What this is (and isn’t)
This is not:
- A doctrine or closed spiritual system
- A claim about what others should believe
- A hierarchy of “higher” and “lower” beings
- A technique for control, summoning, or manifestation
It is:
- A relational cosmology
- A map of attentiveness and accountability
- A way of remembering that action happens within many fields at once
- An invitation to move more slowly, carefully, and respectfully
What’s included
This downloadable PDF includes:
- The full Cosmology of Animism diagram, richly layered and directionally oriented
- Clear visual organisation showing nested consciousness rather than flat categories
- A format suitable for printing, altar use, journaling, teaching, or group inquiry
Lineage & orientation
This diagram is an original synthesis, shaped through lived practice, land-based work, parenting, ceremony, systems thinking, and long-term relationship with place.
It is informed by animist, ecological, mythic, and relational traditions – including Indigenous and land-based teachings encountered through teachers, practice, and direct listening – without attempting to speak for any one lineage.
It is offered in the spirit of relationship, responsibility, and ongoing learning.
License & Sharing
Digital downloads are offered in the spirit of a gift economy, under a Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0).
You are welcome to share, use, and adapt these materials in personal practice, learning spaces, workshops, and community settings, provided that clear credit is given to Sarah Woodrow.
You may not resell these materials as standalone products, claim authorship, or use them in ways that misrepresent their origin or intention.